


Beyond The Apocalypse

by Pieceofship



Category: Danganronpa
Genre: Amputation, F/M, Mention of Character Death, Zombie Apocalypse, also features amputation, bit of blood and gore, but it’s tamed, zombie apocalypse!au, zombie!au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 03:21:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15501204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pieceofship/pseuds/Pieceofship
Summary: Mondo is just trying to navigate through a zombie apocalypse without having his face chewed off. He’s stuck doing it alone after tragic events... At least until he gets saved by a fellow survivor named Sakura.





	Beyond The Apocalypse

You would think with all the zombie shows, movies, video games and comics, the world would had known what to do when the apocalypse hit. Judging by the fact there were more zombies than people nowadays, apparently the world didn’t know shit. 

Mondo watched enough television to know how the deal went. Only thing that killed a zombie was destroying the brain, you get bit you turn into one of them, don’t get bit, noise attracts them and most importantly, sometimes people could be the real threat, not zombies. He learned that last one the hard way when Celestia stole his supplies while he slept and abandoned him with nothing more than a the hunting knife he kept in his pocket and a roll of toilet paper. 

He let out a huff as he opened the door to the convenient store. Mondo knew he was royally screwed, armed with just a knife and nothing else. But if a zombie didn’t kill him, starvation sure would. Judging by the broken glass, busted door and how empty this store was, it was safe to say other people before him got their supplies long before him. But damnit, maybe they forgot something? A pack of instant noodles, a candy bar just ANYTHING! Mondo was gonna eat his own arm if he didn’t get some kind of food in his system. 

The coast looked clear, without a zombie in sight to fend off, Mondo started to survey the area. As expected the store was bare to the naked eye, but he knew better than to give up. Maybe he would get lucky and find something? Ten minutes of searching and he eventually stumbled across a little package of cookies. Now Mondo was never crazy about coconut, but living in not only what was destined to be the end of the world, but also with dead beat parents, it taught him not to be picky. 

Mondo unwrapped the package, revealing the cookies inside were all crushed. Probably all trampled on from some prior survivors, but food was food. He shoved a handful in his mouth, they were stale as hell, but better than nothing. He wished he had milk. Once done with the package, Mondo threw the wrapper on the ground and continued his search, in hopes of finding something a little less stale. A package of crackers with a miniature can of tuna and a bag of beef jerky was all he found. Hardly enough to get him through the day, but it was something at least. Mondo added the two items to his rucksack and searched the store a final time. The only good thing about traveling alone was he didn’t have to share food.

Kiyotaka packed up and left in search of his father, promising to return with him, Daiya was out of town went it all happen and Chihiro turned into one of those things after getting bit and not telling Mondo. He had no idea where his gang was, his friends were either dead, gone, or turning in zombies. For the first time in years, Mondo was alone. 

He tiredly sighed and added a cup of instant ramen to his pack. Now if only he could find a clean water source, Celestia took the water purifier kit he had. Honestly at this point Mondo would give an arm and leg for a hot cup of instant ramen instead of eating it raw and hard. Once Mondo figured he cleaned out whatever was left of the store, he decided to finally leave. Three foodstuffs wasn’t a lot, but it was something. 

He exited the store and immediately heard the familiar moans of zombies. 

“Shit!” he swore, arming himself with his knife. Of all the times they had to show up! Luckily it wasn’t a big hoard so he could probably give them the slip if he was fast enough. 

He bolted in the opposite direction, keeping his eyes peeled for somewhere to duck into and get away from them. Long as he didn’t draw too much attention he would totally get a-

Mondo cursed loudly as he fell to the ground face first, he lifted his head off the ground, feeling a trickle of blood drip down from his nose. Shit! What the hell happened!? He turned his head around and felt his blood run cold. It was a zombie, that much he was sure of. But like all zombies, they could only die from having their brain destroyed. So the fact this zombie was missing the lower half of its body meant nothing, long as it’s brain was intact everything function normally. So it was free to grab his foot and try to bring it to it’s opened jaws. 

“Fucking hell!” Mondo cursed, giving the zombie a kick to the face. Thankful his shoes were thick enough to avoid getting bit on his ankle. This was just enough to break free and get back to his feet. 

His lost precious time, time was everything when you got sighed by a hoard of zombies. Now instead of getting further away from them, he was just dangerously more close. Mondo returned to running, finding himself more desperate to find somewhere to lose them. It wouldn’t be long until other zombies heard the ruckus and sought him out. He needed somewhere to hide, but where?

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted another shop, one much more larger than the convenient store. Taking a deep breath he raced towards the shop, knowing he didn’t have time to risk the door being locked and losing him more precious time to separate himself from the hoard. He ran as fast he could towards the store, shielding his face with his arms as he leapt at the glass window, ready to protect his face and eyes. 

Mondo recalled some television program he seen once as a kid, he couldn’t quite pinpoint all the details. But the one thing that stuck out to him was when they showed how they made glass to be so durable. Why did this matter right now? Because as soon as he leapt instead of shattering through like he originally planned in his head, he painfully bounced back, landing on his back.

Fuck....” he muttered, feeling a trickle of blood drip down from his forehead. 

Before he could process what had happened, the all too familiar groan of the undead ringed in his ears. One of the zombies that were not part of the hoard but a straggler near the front of the store took notice of him, next thing he knew it limped it’s way over and fell on top of him. Mondo caught it by the shoulders just in the nick of time before it’s rotten jaws could get ahold of his face.

Shit! Shit! Shit! This was bad! Where the hell was his knife? He made a quick glance to his left, just mere inches from him was his only means of defence aside from hand to hand combat (which was far too risky). He brought his right hand to the zombie’s throat, trying to get some distant between himself and the monster while the left hand tried to retrieve his knife, which was just inches out of his reach.

‘Come on... just a little more damnit!’

It was then he heard the all too familiar sound of a zombie getting its head crushed, a grunt, and the all too familiar stench of rotting flesh that got stronger whenever you put down one of these things. But the creature he was fending off was limp and collapsed.

“Come on!”

He didn’t have time to think about what he was doing, he instinctively grabbed the hand being offered to him. Mondo was yanked to his feet and pulled through the door (which apparently wasn’t locked like his dumb-ass thought it was) and inside the store.

He fallowed his saviour, running behind her and through the store which judging by the planks of wood stacked on the shelves and boxes of screws, nails, nuts, bits and other little things for building and carpentry, it was safe to say this place was a hardware store. The eerie moaning of the undead trailed behind them, dozens of them hot on their trail.

“This way!” she spoke, grabbing Mondo by the arm and pulling him to the left, passed a few bags of fertilizers and broken flower pots in the garden department. Pass all that was a staff room, she quickly ushered Mondo inside first before slamming the door shut and locking it. It was then Mondo finally got a good look at her. 

She was a good inch or so taller than him, sharp blue eyes, a muscular body that must had taken years of intense training to achieve, long white hair that was pulled back in a tight bun, armed with a crowbar and dark skin with a few scars here and there. Now whether or not she had gotten those scars from the apocalypse or prior was a mystery.

Mondo had little time to ask for a name, the thump of zombies throwing themselves at the locked door was a not so friendly reminder they had limited time. His eyes darted to the single window in the room. Just big enough for the two of them to smash and get out.

“Alright, let’s break the window and-“ he stopped and watch as she made her way over and unlocked the window, opening it up and creating their escape.

“It’s unlocked, no used in creating more noise.” Mondo could practically hear her calling him an idiot, even if she didn’t say it out loud.

Once they climbed out through the window they were back to running, getting further away from the hoard with Mondo behind the woman who saved him from certain death. He wasn’t exactly sure how far he would follow her, they were strangers. But he knew he had a better chance of survival if he fallowed her for the moment, least until they were farther away from the hoard. Then he could figure out what the hell he was going to do. He lost his knife, so he had no way of defending himself. All Mondo had was a roll of toilet paper and some food. He wasn’t going to get far.

“I believe we’re safe.” she spoke after another twenty minutes of running and stopped dead in her tracks.

“Yeah... I think we are, I can’t hear the hoard.” Mondo spoke, wiping some sweat off his forehead. Shit, he normally didn’t get this winded so fast. He blamed it on the lack of food. “Uhh... thanks for saving my ass back there.” 

“You’re welcome, but going out here with hardly any means of defending yourself was far too risky.” she lectured. “Had I not been at the right place at the right time, you would had succumbed to a fate worst than death.” 

“You don’t need to tell me twice.”

“Do you not have any means of staying safe?” she inquired.

“I had a hunting knife... was getting kinda dull.” Mondo admitted. 

“Just a knife?”

“I mean, I had way more shit before.” he stated, being painfully reminded of how Celestia royally fucked him over. “But it all got stolen while I slept.”

“Stolen? Were you attacked by bandits?”

“No... someone who I thought was my friend robbed me blind.” he explained. He should had known something was up when Celestia insisted on doing the night watch a second time. 

“My apologies, sometimes the undead aren’t the real threat, but the living are.”

“You sound like you speak from experience.” 

You sound like you speak from experience.” 

“I dealt with my fair share of bandits.” she answered and looked up at the sky. “It’s nearly nighttime.” she commented.

Realizing in their haste to escape, they didn’t notice the sun setting, signalling it would be night time soon. The streets would soon be drown in pitch darkness and leaving them beyond vulnerable to the zombies that littered the streets. 

“Shit, you’re right.”

“Come with me, you may stay in my shelter for the night.” she spoke and went on ahead. “It’s not far from here.”

Mondo began to walk next to her. “Can I get your name?”

“Sakura Oogami.”

“Mondo Oowada.”

“Well then, I propose you rest somewhere safe for the night and gather some supplies. I don’t have much, but I can part with a few things. One of them being a decent way to defend yourself.” she explained.

“Thanks, that’s seriously means a lot.” he answered. 

....

They reached shelter just in the nick of time before the works was engulfed in the darkness of nighttime. It was some worn down old shop, one of those small local ones. Must had been some kind of cafe or bakery at one point. Mondo might had been able to tell if the sign out front wasn’t so worn out and faded from wear and tear of the apocalypse. 

Soon as he stepped inside he was shocked to find the building alit despite it being nighttime and with the windows boarded up. 

“You have power!?” he gawked at her in amazement.

“I found a generator.” she answered. “I’m hardly a mechanic, so it’s not perfect. Occasionally the lights will flicker, but it’s better than nothing.” she took off her bag. “I have a mattress in the back room, you’re more than welcome to rest.”

“What about you? You’re the one who saved my ass.” Mondo stated. “You must be exhausted.”

“I need to handle my supplies and figure out what exactly I can part with.” fair enough. And a good night’s rest did sound attempting. 

“Fine, I’m tired as hell after all that.” now if only this place had an air conditioning, it felt oddly warm for night. 

He decided to remove his jacket in hopes to cool off. Mondo let out a sigh of relief and tossed his jacket aside before lazily stretching. Ah, that’s better. 

Wait... what?

Mondo’s eyes went wide as he stared at his wrist. 

There it was, small but it was there. In any normal circumstances, Mondo wouldn’t had thought twice about it and assume it was just from a paper cut or he nicked himself at some point. But that little black ring around the small wound wasn’t something he could easily pay no mind to.

“Shit!” he swore.

“What is-“ her eyes widen in horror as she seen the faint little mark. “You’re bit!”

“Fuck!” he held his wrist and glanced up at her. This was a death sentence! “I...I...” Mondo couldn’t form any words. It couldn’t be... no way in hell was it possible for him to turn into one of those things! 

Was this how Chihiro felt when he got bit? In denial and helpless? Mondo glanced back down at the wound, this was it... either he offed himself or turn into one of those things.

“Forgive me...”

Mondo hardly had anytime to ask what she was going on about, but the next thing he knew was there a sudden pain in his head before everything faded to black.

....

Mondo awoke for a brief moment. Using every bit of strength to open his eyelids to gaze at his surroundings. It was pointless.... everything was blurry. He could make out very little. A lot of red... so much of it. Where did it all come from? And his body, everything ached. A sharp and sore pain spread throughout his body, especially on his side. And his mouth... something was on it... but what? 

He didn’t have time to think about it, a dizziness took over and everything went black.

....

He lost count of how many times he slipped in and out of consciousness, not that he was keeping track to begin with. But Mondo at least tired to regain his focus each time and think back on what happened and take in as much information as he could before blacking out again.

So far all he got was a lot of red, it smelled bad, and something was stuck on his mouth. He haven’t bothered to check, he felt too weak to move his body.nBut during one of the short spans he was awake he managed to recall that he met another survivor, Sakura Oogami, the woman who saved him from certain death. 

The bite! 

Mondo’s eyes popped opened again as he vividly recalled the bite mark on his wrist. Fuck! He was bit! His eyes darted around, forcing the blurriness to somewhat clear as he looked around. A pile of bloodstain cloths rested in a messy pile... what the hell happened?

Despite how much pain he was in, he attempted to get up. A big mistake, another dizzy spell made him feel as if he was on a roller coaster, but luckily he didn’t pass out. It was pointless to even try, rope kept both his legs bound, and his arm was tied to a desk leg, he assumed his other one was too. He just couldn’t see it since that side was covered with a thin blanket.

“Blink twice if you can understand me.” 

Mondo glanced upwards to see his fellow survivor. Did she do this to him? Of course she did! He would had thrashed about if he wasn’t in so much pain.

“Blink twice if you can understand me.” she repeated.

Fine! He stared straight into her blue eyes and blinked twice. Making each blink slow and obvious.

She nodded and kneeled down, bringing a hand near his mouth, she ripped off the strip of duct tape keeping it shut. Mondo winced in pain, But was too tired to swear or shout in pain.

“I apologize for keeping you bound, but I wanted to remain on the safe side.” she explained. “Now, please heed my warning and remain calm.” Kind of hard to do that when she had him all tied up! “But I had to take caution, once bitten you turn in ten hours, no matter how small the bite. I saw it happen before... considering you lasted far longer than that and are still human, I think it’s safe to say my theory was proven right.”

Was it really that long? 

“Now, I request you brace yourself for what I had to do... I had to take...” she paused for a moment, her whole face read she didn’t know how to put this. “Drastic measures...”

“The... hell do you...mean?” each word took a lot of strength, talking was proving to be a labouring task. 

“It might be best if I just showed you.”

As soon as she lifted the sheet his eyes went wide. What should had been where his arm was, was instead just the elbow up.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” he felt that rush of adrenaline throughout his body she tried to sit up, though the rope make it impossible to do so, he just ended up making himself dizzy.

“Here, let me undo those.” 

Once freed from his bindings he attempted to sit up again and gawked in horror at his arm, or at least where his arm used to be.

“You cut off my fucking arm!?” 

I was given little choice. It was either that or risk you turning into one of them.” her eyes rested on what was left of his arm. 

“I..l..” he used his hand to hold his head. “Fuck... my head.”

“Would you like some water?”

“Yes...”

She nodded and fetched a bottle of water from her bag, from there she brought it to his lips and he drank. It was lukewarm, but it was wet at least. As soon as the plastic bottle was drained she brought it away from his mouth.

“I know it’s a lot to take in... but for now, please rest. I’m preparing dinner, do you feel like eating, Oowada?” she gently lowered his head on the makeshift pillow made of folded blankets. 

“Call me Mondo...” he managed to say before shutting his eyes. “You sawed off my fucking arm after all.” hence saving his life.

“Very well then, shall I wake you once I’m finished, Mondo?” 

“Sure...” food was the furthest thing from his mind, but he knew better than to refuse food with how things were in the world. 

“And please, call me by my first name as well. “

Mondo didn’t even respond, as soon as Sakura said that he drifted off.

....

Now, Mondo HATED hospitals. He hated being poked and prodded, taking horrible tasting medication and being nagged about what he can and can’t do. But if there was one good thing about them, it was the limitless supply of painkillers they had. Because the pain he was feeling made him miserable! 

“Here...” Sakura handed him a tin can which they used for cups. 

“Thanks...” Mondo said and took the can, bringing it too his lips to drink. Tea... no honey, lemon or sugar...but it was warm, and the sudden drop in weather made it easier to enjoy. 

“The weather is getting cold.” she commented. “I believe it’s safe to officially say it’s autumn.”

“Not like any of us kept a calendar when this all happened.” Mondo shrugged and took another sip. Having to try and adjust to using his left hand for everything was still something he was getting use too. Made for the occasional moment where he struggled, but he was doing better than he originally thought he would had been. Maybe it had to do with the fact he gotten into quite a few fights back in his gang days, his left hand dealt its far share of punches.

“I’m not worried about autumn, it’s winter that has my concern.” she stated. “Having to get supplies during the harsh weather will be difficult.”

“Think the zombies will freeze to death?” Mondo asked. “I mean they are already kinda slow, being rotting flesh and all.”

“Assuming hypothermia doesn’t become a problem for us, I suppose we’re find out.” she paused. “My apologies, I shouldn’t be saying this to you. You have enough to worry about.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” he reassured. “I appreciate that you’re actually being straight up. Gives us time to plan.” 

Wait... why was he saying us? Originally Sakura was just going to let him stay the night and give him some supplies when they first met. He was staying with Sakura for much longer than he anticipated. She never treated him like a burden or complained about having to tend his wounds or providing him with food and drink. What were they now?

“Agreed, traveling on foot would be dangerous. We have no form of transportation, the cold weather would be difficult since we have no clothing for the season, not to mention I don’t want to lose the generator.” she dug through her bag. “But staying here forever isn’t an option either.”

“Not how I would word it, but we are forced into a troubling situation.” Sakura responded. “I might have to go out to gather supplies again... would you care to come? I believe I got an idea to make traveling easier.

“Wait, seriously?”

“I made a recent discovery that might make moving around easier.” Sakura explained as she stood up. “I’ll be right back, just give me a moment.” Sakura got up and left, leaving him by himself. It was roughly around twenty minutes she returned.

“What did you get?” Mondo asked.

“I noticed a little something when I went out to gather supplies, as you know when it comes to dealing with the undead things can get... messy.” she explained.

“Don’t remind me.” 

“Then you might not like this.”

Mondo did his hardest not to gag as Sakura dropped a bloody bag at his feet. “What the hell is this!?”

“I once got quite a bit of blood on me when I was hunting for supplies. Granted I thought having the undead’s scent on me would make me more of a target. But looking back it appeared to have the opposite affect.” she explained. “I haven’t tried it out since due to clothes being so difficult to find. But I recently stumbled on a few articles of clothing, I believe this is our best bet to travel safely.” 

The very thought made Mondo’s stomach churn. Covering himself in zombie guts made him feel queasy, he wanted to stay as far away from those undead bastards as possible, and that included smearing their guts on himself. But if it mean he could be more stealthy and move through hoards easier, then fuck it! 

“Please say you got extra clothes for me.” he asked.

Luckily she did, she dug into a bag and pulled out a black tracksuit. 

“Will this fit you?”

“Probably.” Mondo nodded, getting up to his feet.

“Do you need help getting changed?” she offered.

“Nah, I got this.” 

“I’ll be in the other room, come out when you’re done and then we will prepare.” Sakura picked up the smelly plastic bag and left.

Mondo let out a sigh before glancing the the tracksuit. It looked like something he would had worn in high school during physical education or just for a trip to the gym. Now if only he wasn’t going to smear it all in zombie guts. He shuddered at the thought. Once he managed to undress himself (something he was still trying to master) he began to work on getting the track suit on. Glad the pants didn’t have any buttons, those were always a pain in the ass to deal with, buttons were going to be the death of him. But he taught himself a few little tricks to make it easier. Such as grabbing the pants from the centre to open both leg holes. The zipper on the jacket required some manoeuvring, but it was less frustrating than it used to be. His trick to do so was once he worked the jacket on himself and needed to zip up, he pressed half of the zipper to the wall so he could get the zipper hooked, then he used his pinkie to hold the lower part of the zipper before pulling it up.

Now dressed in the tracksuit, Mondo made his way out of the room and to Sakura, who threw on a pair of pants and grey hoodie. 

“My apologies, this next part will be unpleasant.” Sakura spoke, reaching into the foul smelling plastic bag and pulling some kind of rotten organ. 

Now he was really thankful he didn’t have anything to eat today. 

“Turn around, I’ll start with your back.” Mondo gulped and obeyed, shivering as he felt the still warm flesh make contact with his clothing. The smell was horrible, it made him want to vomit. “Now for the front.”

He turned around, facing Sakura. Doing his hardest not to stare as Sakura rubbed the organ all over the front of his tracksuit and smeared him with the dark sludge like blood. 

“Gross...”

It will be worth it.” Sakura reassured as she took a step back. She put the organ back on the bag and pulled out another one, from there she rubbed it over her extra set of clothing. “Could you do my back?”

“Sure...” he gaged as she handed him the organ and turned around. It felt gross, almost like raw slimy meat. But Mondo forced himself to coat the back of Sakura’s clothes with the flesh. “Is that good?”

“Yes, this will do.” she nodded and stepped away. “Let’s get going. And remember, stay quiet.” Sakura warned. “We need to blend in.”

As soon as they exited their shelter, there was a group of two zombies outside. Mondo instinctively reached for the little but sharp knife Sakura had got gotten him, but Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder, signalling him to stay still. He kept his eyes on the trio of zombies as they stumbled towards them. Mondo immediately tensed, bracing himself for when they would lunge at him. But instead they walked right passed him and Sakura.

“Holy shit, it worked.”

“This will make traveling far more easier.” 

“Speaking of which, where are we going to gather supplies?”

“The drug store would be an ideal choice.” Sakura suggested. “We need more bandages. Vitamins would be useful too, I doubt a steady diet of beef jerky and stale cookies is providing us with the proper nutrition.”

“Sounds like a plan.” he agreed. They walked together in silence, at least until constantly Mondo needed something to keep his mind off the undead they kept passing. “So uhh... it just occurred to me I don’t really know much about you.” Mondo awkwardly began. 

“I suppose it’s natural you would get curious of my origins. We have been traveling together for awhile.” she answered. “Anything you would like to know? I will answer anything to satisfy your curiosity.”

“Shit... where to start?” Mondo sucked his teeth in thought. “I guess I gotta ask, I mean no one gets that strong without a purpose or on accident, you know?”

“My family has a dojo, it’s been in my family for generations.” she explained. “I taken part in many fighting matches all over the world.” 

“I’m gonna take a wild guess and say you won a lot of them.”

“Indeed.”

“Shit,” Mondo whistled. “You ride a motorcycle by any chance?”

“A... motorcycle?” she echoed back.

“Yeah, if you were in my gang no one would fuck with us!” Mondo laughed at the very thought. But his laughter soon faltered at the very thought. His gang members... his big bro.... Takemichi... “Fuck, I hope the other members are okay.”

“If they’re as strong as you, I have faith their chances of survival are high.” Sakura tried to reassure.

Yeah... the crazy diamonds saw their fair share of zombie movies. And if he made it this far, they had to too! Daiya was out of town, so maybe he was fine. Takemichi was smart as fuck, so he was probably alive too.

“Right... Yeah.... they’re all tough as fuck.” he gulped and nodded. “Though hopefully smarter than me.” Mondo forced a chuckle.

“Give yourself some credit, you survived this long.”

“Yeah, only because I have you to save my ass.” Mondo stated. “Seriously, if you weren’t at the right place and the right time, I would had been dead meat.” 

“I couldn’t just leave you. It’s been far too long since I met another person who wasn’t trying to eat me.” Sakura responded.

“About that... “ Mondo began. “I was wondering... when we first met, you were only going to help me stay the night and give me some supplies. But it’s been well over a day. Hell, I actually lost count.”

“Originally that was my plan, though I do not mind your company.” Sakura replied. “If you want to stay with me, then you are free to do so.”

“Well... we been together this long, no point in splitting up now.”

Glad to hear that, I’ve grown to like your company.” she smiled before glancing away from him. “Ah, here we are.” she paused and looked at the deserted drugstore. “Let’s take a look inside.”

The inside wasn’t much better than most stores he went to in order to find supplies. But it was still worth a shot, they could use the supplies. 

“Seems pretty empty.” Mondo commented.

“Skill keep your guard up.” Sakura warned. “Now... stay close and let’s search.”

They decided to start with the aisles. Typically these contained more snack food than actual meals, but food was food. The aisles also contained little knickknacks, but still worth searching. Maybe a survival dropped a candy bar or something while looking?

“Hell yeah!” Mondo mused as he browsed the aisle.

“Did you find something useful?” Sakura asked, looking over her shoulder.

“You can bet your ass I did!” Mondo grinned and held up a pair of slippers.

“Slippers?”

“You know, end of the day, relaxing.” 

Sakura just shook her head and returned to searching, adding a package of mints to her own bag. 

They manage to scrape together three tooth brushes, four things of candy, a roll of bandages, a roll of toilet paper and a bar of soap. Now that they were done with the aisles, it was time to check behind the counter of the pharmacy where all the more serious medication remained. As expected, a lot of it was gone. But it was still worth searching, Mondo was desperate for some kind of pain relief for his arm. 

“Think we can find painkillers?” he asked.

“Possibly, but I wouldn’t be able to tell what is what.” Sakura spoke. “I’m no doctor.”

“You say as you amputated my arm.” Mondo pointed out. 

In the end they decided to just grab whatever bottles of medication they could. Maybe one day they would get lucky and run into a doctor or something to explain heir uses.

“I think that’s everything useful.” Sakura spoke as she put the last pill bottle away in her own bag. “Might be best to move on and-“

She was cut off by the sound of a loud thump coming from the front of the store. Without hesitation they both reached for their weapons. Sakura got the crowbar hooked in her belt, while Mondo got his knife from his pocket.

Sakura took the lead, staying close to the aisles to keep cover.

“Thought you said the zombies wouldn’t come after us if we covered ourselves in this gunk?” Mondo asked in a whisper.

“I know, but it’s not a zombie coming in here that I’m worried about.” Sakura whispered back. “Sometimes the living can be the real threat.” 

True, Celestia had no problem leaving his ass to die and Sakura did mention dealing with her fair share of bandits.

“Stupid stand.” a voice swore.

Wait a minute.... Mondo knew that voice! 

Without thinking despite Sakura’s warning about being quiet, he raced up and got a good look of the scavenger.

“No fucking way...” Mondo spoke. Even with his bright red dyed hair fading, Mondo could easily recognize him from the silver piercings and goatee. “Leon!?”

“Holy shit, Mondo!?”

The two raced up to each other with Leon nearly tripping over the magazine stand he knocked over.

“Shit, you’re alive!” Leon gawked.

“You are too! I thought you were out of town?!” 

“Nah, once things went to hell I figured things would be better back home... apparently that was a shit idea.” Leon huffed. “Don’t tell me you been here the whole time?”

“Course I was, my bike needed repairs so I couldn’t get out of town.” Mondo informed. 

“Shit man...” Leon shook his head. “The whole world is terrible...” he blinked and took a good look at Mondo. “What the fuck happened to you?”

“Long story short, I got bit.” he answered. “If it wasn’t for Sakura, I would had been a dead man.”

“Uhh... who’s Sakura?” he questioned, giving Mondo a puzzled expression.

“That would be me.” she finally spoke, stepping into sight. 

“She save my ass too many times to count.” Mondo said. “We have been together ever since.”

“Okay, next question... why the hell are you covered in that gunk?” Leon asked and wrinkled his nose. “You two smell nasty!”

“Don’t remind me.” Mondo huffed. 

“It acts as a way to mask us.” Sakura explained. “Although it is not pleasant to do, it makes traveling far more safe and easy.”

“The zombies can’t tell us apart from the others.” Mondo added. “They don’t give a shit.”

“Good idea, still gross but...” Leon trailed off. “If I had extra clothes I might-“

“We have extra clothes back at our shelter.” Sakura stated.

Wait... was Sakura going to let Leon come to their little shelter? More importantly, did that mean he was going to stay?

“You know, theirs hardly any zombies out there.” Leon said. “I don’t think I really need-“

“Hey, Leon?” Mondo interrupted.

“Uhh... yeah?”

“How about a hug?” 

Before he could protest, Mondo wrapped himself around Leon, smearing the gunk that stained his clothes onto Leon’s.

“Gross!” Leon gagged and shuddered as soon as Mondo stepped back. “This was my favourite shirt!”

“And now it’s zombie repellent.” Mondo smirked.

“Fuck you...” Leon grumbled.

“We have spare clothes at our base.” Sakura reassured. “You can change into those once we’re done.” 

....

It was the first time in far too long him and Sakura were able to eat something other than candy. Leon had quite the collection of canned food. They opened up a couple cans of soup and heated it up for dinner that night. 

“How on earth were you able to find all this?” Mondo asked after finishing his can.

“The next town over, I got real lucky at some supermarket.” Leon explained. “Almost caught up in a hoard. Thought I was a goner...”

“At least now you know how to evade the hoard now.” Sakura added in. 

“Yeah, still gross as hell.” he stuck out his tongue. 

“Better than being a zombie’s next meal.” Mondo countered before yawning. Damn, was it really that late already? 

“It would be best to conserve our energy for morning.” Sakura spoke. “I shall remain on watch for tonight.”

“Nah, I’ll do it.” Leon spoke. “You’re letting me stay the night, it’s the least I could do.”

“Are you sure? I do not mind.”

“Nah, I’m not tired at all.” he said and got up. “I’ll be out of your hair by morning.”  
....

Just like Mondo, Leon ended up staying with them. Though unlike Mondo, it did require some gentle persuasion from him and Sakura, but he did eventually agree to stay. And just like that, they officially became a group. They would gather supplies, take turns cooking (basically just heating up canned food) and sleeping in shifts. 

It was a relief to have someone he known since high school with him. Sort of felt nice to talk about all the shit they did back in the days. Now if only Chihiro was alive and Kiyotaka and his brother were here...

“We’re back.”

Mondo looked up from the pot of boiling water to see Leon and Sakura returning from another supply run.

“What did you find?” Mondo asked. 

“A box of cookies, tea bags, cough syrup and a box of bandaids.” Leon said and tossed his bag at Mondo’s feet.

“No offence, but that isn’t really much.” he said.

“We know, supplies is much more harder to find these days.” Sakura shook her head. “I suspect despite our original plan to stay, we may not have a choice in the matter if gathering supplies is becoming this much of a challenge. If we want to survive we’re have to move and we have to move fast before winter makes it impossible.” 

“But where though?” Leon asked. 

“Another town might be more ideal.” she answered. “I say we plan to move within a week. We gather as much supplies as we can and use what we find more sparingly.”

“We already are using it sparingly. We’re splitting a single pack of instant ramen between three people for supper.” Mondo pointed out, adding the block of ramen to the boiling water.

“True...” Sakura frowned and crossed her arms. “We already are eating so little. Then we’re just have to leave sooner.”

“How soon?” he inquired.

“Three days. Before we run out of supplies and before winter hits.” she announced. “I might actually be able to carry the generator.”

“You’re actually going to try to haul that thing with you!?” Leon gawked at her. 

“I would hate to lose it. It’s a big reason I wanted to originally stay.” Sakura answered. “But now that I think about the possibility of leaving, I want to take it with us. I have no doubt I’m strong enough to carry it Assuming you two can carry the rest of our supplies.”

“Judging by how little we have, I think we’re manage.” Mondo spoke and stretched. “Can we go somewhere with good mattresses? The one on the floor is murder on my back.”

“Your back is sore?” Sakura asked, Mondo nodded. “Come here then, I used to know someone who gave great massages. He gave me a few tips on how to do them myself.”

“Alright, I got nothing to lose.” he turned around, back facing Sakura. 

Right away Sakura’s hands began to work away at his back. At first it felt strange, Mondo had never gotten a massage or any kind of spa treatment (aside from a nice long soak in the tub at home) but he soon easily found himself getting less tense. This actually felt pretty damn good. Before he knew it that annoying ache in his back soon melted away. 

“How’s that?” Sakura asked and brought her hands away.

“Shit, that was fucking amazing!” Mondo mused, his mouth unable to do anything but form a big fat grin. 

“Thank you, glad I remembered some things. Though I don’t think it will never compare to the massages he gave. Lots of athletes got addicted to them. They always restored your energy, no matter how tired you are after a workout.” she explained. 

“Shit, you gotta introduce me to the guy after all this.” he chuckled.

I’m going to go double check that the boards on the windows aren’t worn down.” Sakura spoke. “I’ll be back soon.”

And with that being said she left, leaving just Leon and Mondo.

“So, Sakura....huh?” Leon asked and playfully elbowed Mondo.

“Excuse me?”

“Dude, I think she’s into you.” Leon stated with a smirk. Mondo felt a blush tinge his cheeks. Seriously, this was what Leon was going to bring up!? “Now I know it’s the end of the world if you actually found a chick who’s into you.”

“What the fuck is that suppose to mean!?” 

“Come on, you were on a ten game losing streak.” Leon shook his head in disapproval. “You’re habit of yelling makes it impossible for you to ask anyone out. But I think considering she amputated your arm, she won’t mind the yelling.”

“Christ, Leon.” Mondo covered his face. Even in a zombie apocalypse he just had to be brutally reminded about his habit of yelling when nervous and how it especially made it hard to ask out girls. “I can’t!”

“Why not?” he questioned. “Are you like, not into her or something?”

“No! I am into her and that’s the problem!” Mondo spat. “I don’t want to fuck it up like I do every other time! It’s the end of the goddamn world, all the more reason I should just shut up before I make things awkward.”

“It being the end of the world is all the more reason you should confess!” Leon urged. “What’s the worst that could happen? You two been together for awhile, she probably already knows how loud you are.”

“Gee, thanks.” Mondo pouted.

“Look, it’s the apocalypse. You got bigger things to worry about than having your ten losing streak turn into an eleven losing streak.”

Leon did have a point... Not like Sakura was going to leave him for dead if she said no, she wasn’t the type. Beside’s, their little group of her, him and Leon was working just fine. No reason for them to stop being such just over a little rejection.

“Fuck it...” Mondo let out a big defeated sigh. “If this fails, I’m blaming you.” 

“That’s the sprit.” Leon grinned. “Now go get em’, tiger!” he teased.

Mondo rolled his eyes. If this turned out horrible he was going to go after Leon for this. It was then Sakura returned.

“The boards are fine for the most part, a few are earned down. But with the plan to leave in three days I wouldn’t worry too much about it. They should hold up.” Sakura explained.

Mondo nodded. “That’s good.”

Well, I got to go use the bathroom.” in reality , the bathroom was really just a bucket in a storage closet. “I’ll be back.” he said and left.

Great, apparently Leon wasn’t even gonna wingman for him! Fine! Mondo didn’t need him! He could totally do this on his own!

No... no he couldn’t.

Shit, how was he suppose to confess without yelling? He could write her a love letter? But Mondo was no writer, plus they didn’t have paper or pens. Shit! What the hell was he suppose to say!? Well... he didn’t have to confess to Sakura right away. Maybe just start a conversation? Yeah, that could work!

“So, you never been on a motorcycle?” Mondo began. Figuring a topic he was familiar with would be the best thing to talk about.

“No, I can’t say I have.” she replied.

“Shit, you don’t know what you’re missing!” he grinned. “You gotta ride with me one day. You’re love it!” Mondo took a moment to nervously gulp. “Only if you want to of course!” so much for not yelling. 

“I am rather curious, I’ll take you up on that offer.” Sakura smiled. 

“Sweet! Once I get a prosthetic it’s gonna be awesome!” okay, so far so good. She agreed to go on his bike with him. That was a start! He was doing pretty damn good! 

“A prosthetic?” Sakura repeated.

“Well... yeah. We actually got a few members of the crazy diamonds with prosthetics.” Mondo spoke. 

“That must be comforting to you.”

“Yeah, thinking about them and the rest of my gang make it easier, you know?”

Sakura nodded. “I can see why.”

“Heh... yeah.” Mondo held back a sigh as he thought about what to say next. Thinking about his gang and brother just made him worry more about their well being. You got any family or friends?”

“Yes, but my family was out of the country when this happened. I can only hope they’re alright and it’s safer in another country.” she answered.

“Shit! S-sorry, I should hadn’t had said anything!” Yup, as usual he was fucking up big time.

“Don’t be, I have faith my family is fine.” she spoke. Assuming they were as tough as shit like her, Mondo wouldn’t doubt their survival chances. 

Okay... now to go about confessing to her. Leon suspected she was into him, so this had to to be easier than those other times he confessed! 

“Dare I say they’re is at least a plus side to all of this.” Sakura spoke before Mondo had the chance to come up with something to say.

“Oh yeah? What is it?” he questioned. 

“Have it not been for the apocalypse I never would had gotten the chance to meet you and Leon.” she said. “You two have been very good to me. I do very much enjoy your company, despite how different we are all.” 

“Glad we’re decent company.” Mondo scratched the back of his neck. He wasn’t good at sentimental stuff. 

“Indeed you are, it is interesting to meet people different from myself. Perhaps that’s why I grown to like Leon so much.” 

Wait... LEON!? Was he just trying to set Mondo up to fail from the start for some kind of sick joke!?

“I thought you liked me!?” he blurted out. Instantly feeling his face turn red.

Sakura blinked and stared at him for a few seconds. “I meant platonically...”

“Oh...” his face got redder. “Fuck!” he covered his face with his hand. Now he fucked up. “Not again!”

“Again?” 

“As if a ten streak losing game wasn’t bad enough!” he cried out. “Now it’s eleven!”

“You asked out ten girls... and they all rejected you?”

“Eleven now...” he groaned.

“I recall Leon mentioning that to me.”

Mondo’s eyes went wide. “Wait... he told you!?”

“Yes, and he said you were quite attracted to me.”

“He told me the same thing!” Wait... was Leon attempting to set them up with each other!? 

“It would appear your friend might have more of a hand in helping us confess than we thought.” Sakura stated. 

“Wait... you were going to confess too?”

“Yes, Leon suggested doing so while we were out.” she informed. “I suspect he wasn’t one hundred percent sure I was going to go through with it and gave you a push as well.”

“You’re welcome!” Leon called from the closet.

“Fucking hell...” Mondo muttered to himself and nervously glanced at Sakura. Okay... now there was no way he could screw this up. “So... uhhh... does this mean you want to be my fucking girlfriend!?” His fucking girlfriend? Gee, this was horrible.

Sakura smiled. “Of course.”

Mondo let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.”

“Mondo, we already established we are both attracted to each other. What reason would I have for saying no?” 

“I don’t know... I just have bad luck, it wouldn’t surprise if you said no.” he scratched the back of his neck. “I mean... you don’t have to if you suddenly change your mind!” how was it possible he was fucking up more!? 

“Mondo, I assure you my answer and feelings towards you are consistent now as they were before.” she spoke.

Right... what was he worrying about? He liked her, and she liked him. Sakura said yes so everything was fine! He had a girlfriend now... Holy shit! He finally had a girlfriend! Now what? Not like he could take her out to dinner or a long walk on the beach like in those cheesy romance movies. 

“So like... can I kiss you?”

“You can.”

It wasn’t the ideal way he wanted to go about kissing his girlfriend. But nothing about their situation was ideal. Scavenging for food, trying not to get eaten and become the undead, fearing they might get sick and die without proper medical attention. The list went on and on. They all had so much uncertainty about the future... but for a few seconds, as he kissed Sakura and tasted the metallic flavour of expired canned food on her lips, he was able to set aside all that fear he had about the apocalypse.

“It’s about time you two got together!” Leon called and finally exited the closet. “Seriously, it was getting sickening.” 

“You’re lucky it worked out, otherwise I would had personally beat the shit out of you.” Mondo half joked, putting a hand on Leon’s shoulder.

“Ow!” Leon cried out in pain, instantly Mondo withdrew his hand.

“Are you okay?” Sakura asked.

“Yeah... it’s just...” Leon pulled down the neck of his shirt to reveal his left shoulder.

The first thing that stood out was how red and swollen the spot was, then there was the nasty little gash dead centre in it all. It wasn’t a bite mark, which was relieving. But the sight of the infection wasn’t any less unnerving.

“Leon, how long have you had that?” Sakura inquired.

“Oh... this? Like... three days.” he shrugged. “I was sharpening a knife and the blade broke off and nicked me. It hurts like hell.”

“Well no shit it does!” Mondo frowned. “Cellulitis is painful!”

“Dude, I don’t got cellulite.” he scoffed.

“No, cellulitis. It’s some kind of bacterial infection.” Mondo explained.

“Since when are you a doctor?” Leon asked.

“Since I got it before on my knee.” he huffed. “I couldn’t bend my leg without hurting it. I couldn’t ride my bike!”

“If I recall correctly, it can turn flesh eating if left untreated, right?” Sakura asked as Mondo nodded.

“Wait... did you say flesh eating?” Leon’s face paled.

“Yeah, doctor gave me a huge ass lecture about taking the antibiotics for it daily.” Mondo added.

“Which we don’t have.” she pointed out. “We need to go on a supply run to the pharmacy and we need to do it now.” Sakura immediately grabbed her bag and flung it over her shoulder. “Me and Mondo will go, you can wait here.”

....

“Do you even think the pharmacy will have anything?” Mondo asked as him and Sakura entered said building. 

She let out a sigh. “We can only hope. Do you even know what the antibiotic was called?”

“It had a long and complicated name... so no.” 

Sakura shook her head. “If not we may have to expand our search to another town.”

“If we can’t find anything, do you think you could amputate it?” Mondo questioned. “Like You did for me when I got bit?”

“Unfortunately no... the infection is too close to his neck. It wouldn’t be safe. Our best bet is to find medication.” she said as they started to browse the shelves. Looking for anything that sounded remotely like an antibiotic. 

“See anything?” 

“Nothing... this place is completely empty.” Sakura frowned. “I recall a hospital somewhere in town. But it will take awhile on foot.”

“Best chance we got of saving Leon.” Mondo spoke.

The sound of the pharmacy’s door opened and immediately caught their attention. Mondo and Sakura both reached for their weapon of choice and braced themselves in case of a not so friendly survivor. But that was far from necessary.

“Holy shit...” Mondo let his knife drop to the ground. 

Before him was not only his older brother Daiya, but his closest friend Kiyotaka and a man he recognized as Kiyotaka’s father, Takaaki. 

“Mondo!” both Daiya and Kiyotaka cried out, immediately rushing up to them.

“Holy shit, you’re alive!” Mondo felt his face form a big grin as he stared at them in disbelief. His older brother and best friend were alive.

“Course we are, takes a little more than some undead bastards to take us down!” Daiya mused with a smile. 

“What are you guys doing here?”

“Well after I found my father, I had to return to find my best friend.” Kiyotaka explained. “By sheer luck I manage to bump into your brother on the way to town. We were both looking for you! What a happy coincidence!”

“Safety in numbers after all.” Daiya added.

“What happened to your arm?” Takaaki’s eyes looked him up and down in search of an explanation.

“Huh... oh this? Got bit, Sakura didn’t have much of a choice but to amputate my arm.” he explained before blinking. Right, he had to introduce them to her! “So uhhh... this is Sakura Oogami, my girlfriend.”

“I’m sorry, did you say girlfriend?” Daiya snorted in laughter, Kiyotaka laughed heartily, and even Takaaki gave a faint and barely noticeable chuckle. 

“Ah, what a swell joke!” Kiyotaka laughed.

“What the fuck guys!?” did everyone really find it that unbelievable he got a lover? 

“Oh... you’re serious.” Daiya and the others stopped their laughing.

“Of course I am!” Mondo huffed. Jeez, what a bunch of jerks.

“Sorry about that, name’s Daiya Oowada, I’m Mondo’s older brother.” he offered his hand for Sakura to shake. 

“It’s nice to meet you, though I doubt the circumstances are ideal.” Sakura answered and shook his hand.

“Nah, don’t sweat it. Guess it would take the zombie apocalypse for my bro to finally meet someone!” Daiya laughed.

“I swear to fucking god Daiya...” Mondo glared.

“Relax, I’m just teasing.” his brother grinned. 

Kiyotaka glanced at the pharmacy’s empty shelves. “I take it there isn’t much medication here?”

“Unfortunately no, nothing of use anyway.” Sakura answered.

Medication... oh right, Leon!

“Leon is alive too.” Mondo informed.

“Where is he?” Kiyotaka asked.

“He’s at our base, but we’re in desperate need of antibiotics.” Mondo informed. “He got this really bad infection, cellulitis from my best guess.”

“We got plenty of cephalexin back at base.” Takaaki explained. “Assuming he isn’t too far gone, it should clear right up with a few days of treatment.”

“You actually have that shit!?” Yes! Leon would be fine, his brother, best friend, girlfriend and... whatever Takaaki was (him and a Mondo never got on well) all safe and sound. 

“Of course we do.” Kiyotaka replied. “The three of us and the rest of our group always manage to find supplies or have it delivered.”

“The rest of you?” Sakura inquired. “You mean there’s more survivors?”

“Indeed there are! If I’m correct, we have exactly.... three hundred and forty eight?” Kiyotaka guessed.

“Actually, three hundred and forty nine. Remember the redhead? She finally had her baby.” Daiya reminded.

Mondo’s eyes widen. “Wait... you have that many survivors in one place?” that sounded like a goddamn town or city as opposed to just another base or shelter.

“Of course you don’t know, if you did you would probably wouldn’t be here right now.” Daiya spoke. “Well... some corporations organized all these resources to save survivors, find a way to stop others from turning into zombies and providing survivors with shelter and supplies. We got a real nice sanctuary all set up. We all get a bed, food and we got a lot of medical staff. So we can definitely help Leon and get you two all checked out.”

Mondo grinned, at a loss of words. After all this time of surviving with just Leon and Sakura, he was not only reunited with his friends and family, but they would all be safe. 

Mondo’s guess was right about Leon’s infection was spot on, cellulitis and they caught it just in time. Two weeks worth of antibiotics cleared it up and before long the infection was history. Mondo on the other hand required surgery on his amputation, but like Leon he made a full recovery.

Mondo lazily stretched, all the survivors here took turns when it came to keeping up with the tasks that needed to be done. Whether it was going out in search of extra supplies or looking for other survivors, or jobs that needed to be done within the sanctuary. Such as cooking, cleaning, looking after the children and helping guard the place from the undead. 

“Long day I take it?” Mondo glanced over his shoulders to see Sakura.

“You don’t know the half of it.” he chuckled. “If I have to garden again it will be too soon. You would think with us getting all this food delivered we wouldn’t have to bother going out.”

“The more supplies we have the better. While it’s not a concern I would much rather be safe than sorry.”

“Fair enough... plus the kids went nuts for those toys you found last week.” Mondo added. 

“All the more reason to keep going out for supplies.” she replied. “How where things while I was gone?”

“Well apparently Leon can’t tell the difference between weeds and poison ivy.” Mondo shook his head. “I swear we’re never get that vegetable garden done at this rate.”

“Don’t say that, I’m sure he has learned his lesson.” Sakura said. “And I do look forward to eating fresh vegetables and fruit for a change.” 

“I feel you, canned food tastes so metallic... what I wouldn’t give for a carrot or a freshly picked apple.” Mondo sighed. “You think things will ever go back to the way they were?”

“I was waiting for you to ask me that.” 

“Well I mean... we got scientist researching this.” Mondo began. “Think they could come up with a cure or maybe a vaccine to prevent someone from turning into one?”

“I believe it’s possible for some kind of achievement in the medical field.” Sakura spoke. “History shows we advanced so much, so I do see a vaccine in the future.”

“So you think things will go back to normal?”

“That is difficult to say... I do believe we can get a happy outcome, but I don’t think things will be the same.” Sakura explained. “Nothing ever is after such a event... so much changes. Will I think things will be the same? No. Do I think it’s possible to rebuild society? I do.” she answered. “But it will be different.”

“I can kinda understand how you feel... everything about the future is so uncertain.” he replied with a sigh. “There’s only one thing I’m actually certain about the future.”

“What is it?” Sakura inquired with a curious raise of her brow.

“That you’re in it.” Mondo covered his face and groaned. “That sounded so much better in my head.” he complained, feeling his face turn red.

Sakura chuckled putting a hand on his shoulder. “Nonsense, that’s quite romantic and deep coming from you.”

“Romantic and deep aren’t really what I’m known for...” he rubbed the back of his neck. “But thanks...”

His girlfriend smiled and put an arm around him affectionately. “The future is blurry... we know nothing is for certain at this point, what you said is true. We’re in each other’s future. That much is true.”

“Damn right it is.” Mondo laughed. “Come on, let’s go get lunch. It’s canned peaches today.”

**Author's Note:**

> I had very limited time to study amputation to get this fic uploaded for a little event on tumblr. If anything is offensive to those who are amputees please let me know and I will fix it.


End file.
